It's Always Been You
by DiagonAlii
Summary: A series of OneShots, in no particular order, that follow James and Lily throughout different points in their relationship. JP/LE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**I do not own James Potter or Lily Evans. All rights go to the lovely JK Rowling.

Lily had been on the verge of wake and sleep when she heard a knock at the door. She looked over to see if it had woken Sophie, but she knew that once Sophie was asleep, nothing could make her stir.

Who the bloody hell was knocking on the door in the middle of the night?

Lily reached the door and pulled it open to find James leaning against the frame.

"Hey, beautiful," he said as he leaned forward and put his weight on Lily, nearly knocking her over. His face found hers and he kissed her hard, his breath full of alcohol.

She pushed him back against the wall and steadied him with her hands. "James, you're drunk!"

"Er, maybe a little," he said groggily, his body swaying.

"Where the hell did you get alcohol?"

"Hogsmeade! Where else?" he said happily…and a little too loudly.

"Shh! You're going to wake everyone up! Come here." She led James over to her bed and sat him down. "James, what are you doing? You snuck out to Hogsmeade and got drunk and came back to school? We have classes tomorrow!"

"Padfoot needed some cheering up," James said distractedly. "Lily, can I stay here tonight?"

"James, no, you-"

"Lily, please? I want to stay with you!"

Lily sighed. Figuring James couldn't even sit up and she wasn't about to carry him to his dormitory, it seemed there was no other option.

"Fine," she said. "But you have to be quiet. This is against the rules."

"Whatever you say, Miss Head Girl."

James laid down on Lily's bed and nearly passed out right away. Sighing, Lily closed the curtains on her four-poster to ensure that no one could see him.

Then she climbed into bed on the other side. Unable to sleep, she picked up a book from her bedside table and started to read.

James groaned as he rolled over to face her. He threw his arm over her waist. "I love you, Lily."

She ran her fingers through his thick, dark hair, knowing he wouldn't remember any of this in the morning. She listened as James began to breathe heavily. _I__love__you,__too,_ she thought.

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	2. Chapter 2

Lily gazed up at the ceiling of the rather large guest bedroom in the Potter household. James had offered her his room, but she had denied his request. Even the guest room was twice the size of her bedroom at home.

Then came a quiet knock at the door. Lily glanced toward it, confused, when the door opened a crack and James peered in.

"Lily, you awake?" he asked.

"Yes…" she replied.

"Good." James opened the door a bit more, giving him enough room the squeeze through, and shut the door quietly behind him. He walked over and sat down on the edge of Lily's bed.

Lily instinctively pulled the duvet up higher around her shoulders. She was only in a tank top and flannel pants, and was self-conscious about James seeing her this way. Of course, he seemed to see right through her. He ran his fingers through her knotted hair. "You look beautiful."

Lily felt herself blushing but still didn't release the covers. This didn't seem to phase James, though. He bent down so that his face was directly above hers and kissed her softly, his hand still stroking her hair.

"James, stop, we can't-" she started, but he wouldn't let her go. He climbed over her so that he was lying on the bed next to her, on top of the covers. Again he pulled her in, kissing her harder this time.

Lily temporarily gave up trying and let him kiss her, but then, remembering where she was and whose bed she was in, she laid a hand on his chest and pushed him away. "James, what are you doing?"

"Kissing my girlfriend," he replied, leaning in again.

"No, stop," Lily said, giggling. "We can't do this."

"Why not?" James ran his free hand along Lily's hip from over the covers.

"Because we're in your house! Your parents are here!"

James snorted. "They're on the other side of the house, which is rather large, if I may say so myself."

"Yes, but that's not the point. Besides, Sirius is right next door."

"Lil, it's not like I'm going to shag you right here and now. Although if I could I would probably try. And you think Sirius cares? The only reason he would be upset is because we didn't ask him to join."

Lily laughed and quickly slapped a hand to her mouth to muffle it. James took this opportunity to pull the covers down, revealing Lily's thin tank top and part of her stomach. "Sorry, if I had known you would be intruding on my sleeping arrangements, I would have put on something slightly more attractive," she told him.

James smiled and ran a hand over her stomach. "Will you please stop degrading yourself, Lily? You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on. And I wouldn't change a single thing about you." He kissed her forehead.

Lily ran her hand through his mess of dark hair. "You're sweet."

"And you're amazing."

"You just want to get under these covers with me, don't you?"

"Is that an offer?" James smiled mischievously.

Lily sighed. "Well, I guess…I mean, we're both dressed. And your parents are across the house. And it's not like we're doing anything we shouldn't be…"

Without waiting for a definite answer, James lifted himself up and under the duvet. He wrapped his strong arms around Lily and turned her so that she was facing him.

Lily gazed into his dark eyes, the dark eyes she had grown to love so much. She still found herself wondering how this had happened. How had she fallen for the immature boy she had once despised so much? But truthfully, he wasn't that boy anymore. As she stroked his forearm, she thought out loud. "You've really changed, haven't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…fifth year you told me you were willing to change for me. That you were willing to do anything if it meant that I'd give you a chance."

"You remember that?" James seemed slightly surprised.

"You underestimate me, James Potter," she said. "Yes, I remember that. And I also remember how after that moment you didn't hex innocent students as much. You turned the other way instead of picking fights with Slytherins. Not all the time, granted, but enough for me to notice. I didn't think much of it until recently, but you really did try and change, didn't you?"

James was silent for a moment. Finally, he said, "I…did what it took to get you to see me differently. But you see, I didn't really change. I just…brought out my soft side a bit. Toned down the troublemaker side of me. But I've always been this way, Lily. You just never gave me a chance."

"You were mean to my best friend," Lily said simply.

"Okay, Lily, I know you don't want to hear this, but Severus Snape is not a good guy. He-"

She pressed a finger to his lips. "I know, I know. I'm not defending him. I know what he turned out to be. It's just…I'm big on first impressions. And when my first impression of you was when you insulted Severus on the train…well, I had every reason to hate you."

"I know," James said. "And I regret that. Not the insulting Snivellus part. You could never in a million years get me to regret that. But the part where you hated me because of that. I'll always regret that."

"Please don't," Lily told him. "It's in the past. I know you're not that guy. You're a great guy, and I love you. So please don't regret that."

"How could I even consider saying no to you?" he asked.

Lily buried her face in James' chest, and within a few minutes she was asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"What the _bloody__hell_ are you doing here?" Lily Evans thundered. James Potter was, without a doubt, the _last_ person she wanted to see walk through that door. But surely he wasn't…

"I'm the new Head Boy," James said, out of breath but still beaming.

Lily shook her head. This couldn't be happening. James Potter was the most loathsome, despicable human being she had ever laid eyes upon. "But…how…_you?__"_

"Yes, Evans, _me,__"_ James said. Looking out at the rest of the students in the room, he added "And I have to say, as Head Girl, you're setting a pretty poor example for our peers." He shook his finger at her.

Although she knew James was joking, she couldn't deny that he was right. She took a deep breath, trying to put it behind her, and smiled out at her fellow Prefects. "Er, hello. Thank you for coming. I'm Lily Evans…"

"And I'm James Potter, but you already knew that." James winked as a few of the female Prefects giggled.

Lily shot him a look, but continued on anyway. "So, congratulations on becoming school Prefects. As a Prefect, you are required to fulfill some duties around the school…"

The meeting continued on smoothly, aside from a few smart remarks from James. As the last student left the room, he sighed. "Well, that was fun. I think we'll make a great team, Evans."

Lily was shaking. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" she snapped. "Who in their right mind would make _you_ Head Boy?"

James chuckled. "You know, Sirius felt the same way," he noted.

"How could you _not_ feel the same way?" she fired back.

"Remus seems to think that this will put me in my place and teach me how to be responsible."

"If that were at all _possible!__"_

James leaned back in his seat. "Evans, you have absolutely no faith in me whatsoever," he observed.

"Well, maybe I would if you could go a day without hexing an innocent student!" Lily retorted.

"Go out with me and I will."

Lily snorted. You would think after seven years he would have grown up a bit. "Not in your wildest dreams, Potter."

"Oh, trust me, there have been some pretty wild ones."

Lily shook her head. "I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"Oh, and by the way, your dear friend _Snivellus_is not an _innocent__student,__"_ James argued.

"_Severus_is not my friend," she replied angrily.

"Good, you're better off that way. I never approved of your friendship with him," James said with a disgusted look.

"Who are _you_ to tell me who I can and can't be friends with?" Lily practically shouted.

James stood up. "Alright, it's time for me to go. You're getting too excited," he said. "Although I can see why. I mean, you're clearly in love with me."

In one swift movement, Lily grabbed a book off the bench and launched it at James's head. However, James ducked out of the compartment before it could reach him, and instead the book hit the door and dropped to the floor.

**This is a rather short chapter, and sorry if you're upset that it involves Lily hating James, but since seven years of their relationship consisted of her hatred for him, I think some of these are necessary.**

**Thanks for the reviews!**


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